New Years in Los Angeles
by Call-Me-KrazyPerson
Summary: Takes place directly after my story, Christmas in America. Joey and Yami get "persuaded" by Pegasus to postpone their trip back to Japan and they are now in L.A., California. Yugi finds out about what Joey and Yami did during Christmas and is royally pissed. Dragonshipping
1. Chapter 1

**New Years in Los Angeles**

**Series: **Yu-Gi-Oh!

**Characters:** Joey, Yami, Yugi, Bandit Keith, and Pegasus

**Warnings:** Contains boyxboy relationships

**Pairings:** Dragonshipping (JoeyxYami)

**Summary:** Takes place directly after my story, **Christmas in America**. Joey and Yami get "persuaded" by Pegasus to postpone their trip back to Japan and they are now in L.A., California. Yugi finds out about what Joey and Yami did during Christmas and is royally pissed.

Note: When they are talking in parenthesis they are speaking in English.

oOo

Today was the day they had to leave Brooklyn. Joey and Yami were both sad to leave, and glad to get back home to Domino City in Japan. As planned, they had their Christmas dinner before leaving for the airport. It consisted of a whole turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, a green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Come to think of it, it was the same things you would have for Thanksgiving.

Joey ate quite a lot, his grandma kept urging him to eat more because there was no way she was going to be able to eat all of the leftovers by herself. Yami ate quite a bit as well, but not nearly as much as Joey. He regretted it afterword and felt like he was going to explode.

All too soon they had to get to the airport for their flight. Joey's grandma stayed and waved at them until they had to leave and enter the plane terminal. "(Come again!)" she shouted at them before they were out of sight.

Just as they were about to enter the plane, two burly men in dark suits and sunglasses intercepted them and led the two boys to a much smaller plane and hustled them onboard. Joey and Yami were confused and protested, but fell silent when one of the men pointed a gun at them and told them to sit down. The flight lasted for quite a few hours and the entire time neither of them had any idea what was going on. Both of them were scared and clung onto each other for comfort. They had stuck to each like glue after what had happened to Yami and neither of them let the other out of his sight.

Finally they landed. The first thing they noticed as they stepped off the plane was that it was a whole lot warmer here than it had been in Brooklyn. They knew for sure they weren't on the east coast anymore when they saw palm trees and the ocean, its waters shining brightly in the warm sun. "Where are we?" Joey asked, his hand still tightly linked to Yami's.

The two men didn't answer, just hustled them into a sleek black limo and drove them to an unknown location. When they finally stopped, they were at what could only be described as a mansion. It was mostly white, with some red trimming, and the yards were manicured to perfection. A gorgeous fountain sat out front, bubbling away. It reminded the boys of something out of an English fairytale and they wondered if England had palm trees.

The car stopped out front and they were urged into the house, where they were met by none other than Maximillion Pegasus himself. "What the hell, you bastard, why did you bring us here?!" Joey couldn't hold back the anger he felt towards the man. After all, it had been his fault that Yami had been raped by Keith.

Pegasus ignored Joey's outburst. "Welcome to sunny California, boys." He smiled broadly, spreading his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "This is my house, well, one of them. I hope you enjoy your stay. Your room is this way." He started to walk down a long hallway, looking behind him when they didn't follow. Yami and Joey just stood in the entryway, glaring at him. "You do want to share the same room, correct?" He looked down at their hands, which were still clasped together.

Both boys blushed and let go of each other's hand, looking profusely embarrassed. How did he know? Well, it was kind of obvious if they were holding hands like that. "Haha, nothing to be embarrassed about, frankly it's adorable." He let out a chuckle that made both of them cringe.

Joey followed him down the hall, glaring up at him. "What do you want with us? Haven't you already done enough damage, you sick bastard?!" He was shouting now, his hands in tight fists.

"My, my, you aren't going to make many friends with an uncouth attitude like that, my blonde friend. And what is it that I did that upset you so? I only invited you to my house." He had stopped in front of a room.

"You don't even have the decency to come out and say it?! You had my friend raped!" He was about to punch Pegasus when Yami grabbed his arm, holding him back. There was no real point in getting into a physical fight with the man; besides, who knew where those goons of his were and whether they might pop up.

"Oh my, how horrible; but I had nothing to do with it, I assure you." His handsome face looked genuinely honest.

Yami glared up into his eye, and for Pegasus it truly was a single eye. His left eye was covered in a curtain of perfect, silver hair. "I just want to know one thing: why? Why did you do it?"

"But, Yugi boy, I didn't do anything."

"No matter how much yous deny it; we're not going to believe you, bastard." It was even harder for Yami to hold Joey back. He wanted to make Pegasus pay. To see that confused, innocent expression knocked off his face. But he didn't want Joey to get hurt, so he held him back. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, it hadn't been Pegasus's fault and Keith had acted on his own.

"Here's your room, boys." Pegasus opened the door to a room and they stepped inside. It was spacious with very plush medium green carpet, a king sized bed that was themed in white and blue, a mahogany vanity, and a door that they assumed led to a bathroom. "I hope you enjoy your stay here. Now where is that boy with your luggage? He should be here." Pegasus had taken the liberty of getting their suitcases from the airport as well as the boys.

Only seconds after he said this, a boy who looked to be about the same age as Joey and Yami, quietly entered the room carrying their things. He had chestnut brown hair and strikingly green eyes. He set the suitcases on the floor, gave a small bow to Pegasus, and left the room as quietly as he had entered. "Forgive him. I just hired him and he's still in training." Neither Yami nor Joey could see what the boy had possibly done wrong, but they didn't say anything.

"Tell us why you brought us here, you kidnapping bastard!" Joey demanded.

"Kidnapping? I prefer to look at it as graciously escorting. I'll tell you why I _invited _you here at dinner, which will be in about an hour's time. I'll send Gregory, that boy who was in here earlier, to get you when it is time. See you then." Without another word Pegasus left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Joey immediately checked the door to see if it had been locked. He found that it was not, but didn't leave the room. "Geeze, that guy is a creep."

Yami flopped down on the bed, all energy leaving him. He was admittedly still in pain from his ordeal on Christmas Eve, but tried to hide it so Joey wouldn't worry. Joey joined him, cuddling up next to him. "I wonder why Pegasus brought us here. I bet it won't be for anything we'll like…"

Yami didn't give a coherent reply; just muttered something and dozed off. Joey found himself drifting off too and the next thing he knew a voice was speaking near him. "(Sirs, it's time to get ready to go to diner.)"

Joey blinked and sat up. It took him a bit to wake up enough from his nap to see who it was. It was the boy who had been in there earlier, Gregory, wasn't that what Pegasus had called him? "(Hmm, whadda ya want?)"

"(Mr. Pegasus told me to give you these to change into before dinner.)" He held out two stacks of clothes.

"That damn bastard expects us to just do anything he tells us to?" Joey spat out. He said it in Japanese and Gregory stared at him, not understanding a word of what he had said. He tilted his head to the side, confused. "(Come again?)"

"(What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?)" He rethought the question when he looked down and saw that he was wearing blue jeans that had a hole in one knee, sneakers that had seen better days, and a long sleeved shirt that was too big for him. "(Nevermind. Gimme those.)"

The boy handed one of the stacks to Joey. Joey set the stack on the bed and stripped off his shirt. When he started to unbutton his jeans the boy let out an "eep" and, what could only be described as scampered, out of the room. "What's his problem?" The boy seemed far too shy and stiff to Joey, he needed to loosen up a little.

The stack of clothes contained tan slacks, a white button-up long sleeved shirt, a short sleeveless vest that was chocolate brown in color, and brown dress shoes and a brown leather belt to go with it. Joey had to admit that it looked pretty good. He decided that the shirt would look better tucked in and fixed that.

In his hast to exit the room, Gregory had dropped the other stack on the floor. Joey picked it up and went to wake up Yami. He gently shook him by the shoulder, looking down at his sleeping face. He looked so much younger and more innocent when he was asleep, a lot more like Yugi. Joey wondered what Yugi's reaction would be to all that had happened over the last few days; after all, he had been in the Puzzle the entire time and didn't know about any of it. Little did Joey know that he would react in a way that he would never have expected.

Yami's outfit was the same style as Joey's only smaller, of course. Though the slacks were light blue, and the shoes, belt, and vest were dark blue. The shirt was still white. Yami changed into it and Gregory appeared at the door, leading them to the dining hall.

It was a very large room, likely a ball room that was just being used for dinner at the moment, with a long table with a red table cloth set up in the middle. Pegasus was seated at the head of the table, a wine glass in his hand. "Ah, glad to see that you boys are joining me for dinner. Please, sit." He motioned to two seats on either side of him that had been set with plates and silverware. "I'd offer you some wine but you're too young to drink. Dinner will be out here shortly."

Neither of them sat, they just glared at Pegasus, standing back with their arms crossed. "Okay. It's dinner time. Now tell us why we're here." Joey said.

"But wouldn't it be so much more pleasant to discuss that while we eat?" Both Yami and Joey gave him death glares. "I take that as a no. Very well." He snapped his fingers and Gregory appeared from seemingly nowhere, waiting expectantly for a command. But Pegasus didn't tell him to do anything, only came up behind him and placed both his hands on his shoulders. "Seeing as how you boys don't appreciate the finer pleasantries, I'll just come out and say it."

"Finally," Joey said rolling his brown eyes.

"The reason I invited you boys here, is to ask Yugi boy to help promote a Duel Monsters tournament I have planned to take place just after New Year's. He doesn't have to compete in it; that would be unfair as he is more than likely bound to win. All he has to do is duel the American Duel Monsters Champion. He doesn't have to win, or lose for that matter, just give us an exciting duel that will make people interested in competing."

"What's the catch?" Joey asked. It sounded so simple, and not dangerous and sinister like he had been expecting. "Last time we entered one of your tournaments it was only because you stole Yugi's grandfather's soul."

"Always the skeptic, aren't we, Mr. Wheeler. There's no catch; I think you'll like this part. A large sum of the proceeds that come from the tournament, from the registration fee, sales of cards and Duel Disks and the like, will go to help local orphanages." This entire time he had been slowly kneading his hands into Gregory's shoulders. The boy had become as stiff as a board, his eyes wide in terror. He was obviously as creeped out by Pegasus as Joey and Yami were, especially when he kept touching him like that. It didn't help that they were all speaking Japanese and he didn't understand them.

"That's where Gregory comes in. He was once an orphan at one of the local orphanages. He just recently turned 18 and therefore is a legal adult and no longer a ward of the state, so I hired him on as a butler. He's still in training, and oh he needs so much training." Pegasus was now running his hands through the boy's chestnut-colored hair, oblivious to the fact that he was as white as a sheet and looked about to faint. "He also has two younger sisters that live in the orphanage I got him from and I'm sure he'd greatly appreciate your help."

So that was Pegasus's ploy. This boy looked so shy and innocent that you just couldn't help wanting to help him and his sisters. "I will do it," Yami said. He couldn't help but have his heart go out to the poor kids and want to help them. Pegasus's idea didn't seem too evil so he decided that he would do it. And even though Pegasus hadn't openly threatened them, there was a nagging suspicion in the back of Yami's mind that if he refused there would be dire consequences; not only to him, but even worse, to Joey.

"You sure, Yami?" Joey asked. "We don't have to let this guy push us around." But he had to admit that he had the same suspicion that Yami had; that if they didn't they'd be in big trouble.

"Yes, I am sure," Yami said with more confidence than he felt. "Just let that boy go, I think he's going to die if you keep stroking him like that."

Pegasus looked down at Gregory. "Oh, oops, of course." He let Gregory go and he ran as fast as he could from the room, nearly tripping over his own feet on his way out.

"Just one thing," Joey said, "Let us call our family and friends so they know we're okay."

Pegasus handed Yami a wireless phone and he dialed the number for the Kame game shop. "Hello, Grandpa?" Yami tried to make his voice higher and softer and more like Yugi's voice. But he doubted that Yugi's grandfather knew the difference between them anyway. "I just wanted to let you know that we decided to stay longer in America." He was pretty sure that if he told them the whole story, that they had been kidnapped, Pegasus would have a problem with it. It was true that they were staying longer in America, so it wasn't a lie, just not all of the truth.

"Oh, okay, Yugi, have fun. Bring back a souvenir or something. How much longer are you staying? Is Joseph still with you?" He didn't sound concerned at all; but he didn't know that anything was wrong.

"Oh, until right after New Year's. And Joey is fine. Tell everyone that we are okay and that we are staying longer, okay? I do not want anyone to get worried."

"Sure, but are you okay, Yugi? You sound a little depressed."

"I am fine, Grandpa, I just come down with a small cold. I am almost over it." It was a lie, he hadn't gotten sick. Yami really was feeling a little depressed. He couldn't help it, after all that had happened. But he again kept it a secret so no one would worry about him. They said their goodbyes and he hung up the phone, handing it back to Pegasus.

"I didn't know that you had a cold," Joey said, looking a little concerned.

"Oh, only a very slight one, it is almost over." Yami continued his lie.

"Excellent! I'm glad that you agreed to help me," Pegasus exclaimed. "In the mean time you boys can do whatever you like. There are many different things to do around here. We have horses that you can ride if you wish, an indoor pool, and rooms for dueling with either fencing or Duel Monster's. But now," he pointed at the table, which had had food placed on in while they were talking, "We eat."

They ate the food, neither of them very hungry after the big meal they had had earlier, and then went back to their room. Yami looked at the large, comfortable looking bed, longing to flop down on it and just sleep. But he went over to his suitcase instead. There was something that he had to do first. He pulled the Millennium Puzzle from where he had wrapping it in a shirt at the bottom of the suitcase to keep it safe. He made contact with Yugi's mind, leaving his body to enter the Puzzle. The soulless body collapsed on the floor.

Joey was a little alarmed at first until he realized what Yami had done. He sat down on the edge of the bed, watching and waiting for either Yami or Yugi to come back out. What he didn't expect was for Yugi to suddenly jump up and forcibly throw the Puzzle at the wall, making several pieces fall out. "HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU?! I WAS A VIRGIN!" Yugi screamed at the top of his lungs at the shattered puzzle.

Yugi haven't taken it well at all when Yami had told him what had happened. He was shook up when he heard that Yami had been raped by Bandit Keith, but he exploded when he heard that Yami had had sex with Joey, his best friend. Yami had tried to reason with him, but nothing would get through to the enraged boy. Yugi didn't get angry often, but when he did all hell broke loose.

"Yugi, what's wrong?" Joey rushed over to Yugi, trying to calm him down by giving him a hug.

Yugi slammed his small fists into Joey's chest. "Let go of me, you rapist!"

Joey looked hurt, not from the fists, but from what Yugi had said. "I didn't rape you. It was consensual. Actually Yami pretty much commanded me to do it."

"_I_ didn't give permission for you to do it. And it's _my_ body. You raped me, get away from me!" He punched Joey in the gut and ran from the room.

"Yugi, wait!" Joey chased after him, holding his stomach where Yugi had hit him. He found Yugi at the end of the hall. He had climbed up on a window sill and was looking out the open window as the curtains on the window flapped gently in the breeze from outside. Joey ran as fast as he could when he saw that Yugi was going to jump. "Yugi! Don't!" He lunged for Yugi, missing grabbing his leg by inches.

"Yugi, don't jump…" He looked down and out the window, afraid of what he might see. He let out a sign of relief when he saw that they were on the ground floor and the window was only a few feet off the ground. Yugi was running into the night, unharmed. Joey contemplated chasing after him, but decided that he needed some time alone to think and, hopefully, to calm down.

It hurt Joey to think that Yugi thought he had raped him, like his own father had done to him and like Keith had done to Yami. He'd never do that. Yugi was just very confused right now and needed some time to think it over, he'd come to his senses, hopefully.

Joey went back to the room by himself, crawling into bed and eventually falling asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night he felt Yugi crawl in with him. He had come back, after having paced about in the spacious garden in the back of the mansion. He didn't want to be around Joey right now, but was tired and didn't know where else to go. He curled into a little ball, crying softly into his pillow. Joey heard his sobs and yearned to comfort him, but knew that he'd just push him away again so he didn't and pretended to still be asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

When Joey woke up he found that Yugi was no longer in the bed with him. At first he thought that maybe he had ran off again, but heard the water running in the bathroom, so he must be in there. He stood up, running a hand through his tousled blonde hair. He reached for the doorknob, figuring that Yugi was already in the shower and that it would be okay for him to go in.

"Yugi, I-" he found that Yugi was not in the shower, but standing just outside, naked and about to step in.

"So first you rape me, and now you spy on me?! Get out!" Yugi reached for something heavy and blunt to throw at Joey but didn't find anything in reach. So instead he jumped into the shower, pulling the curtain to cover himself. "Get out!" he shouted with more force.

Joey blushed, even though he had seen him naked before, it didn't make it any less embarrassing. "Sorry, Yugi, I just wanted to tell you-"

"Tell it to someone who cares! I don't." Yugi's cold demeanor was really starting to worry Joey. He had expected him to be upset about what had happened, but not this upset.

"Yugi, calm down. Sometimes….sometimes you just have to accept that Yami has different feelings than you, that he is a different person. And I love him." He loved Yugi too, but more of as a friend. Not that he would mind getting a little more intimate with him, but he greatly doubted that Yugi would let him do that; he was pretty sure that Yugi had a crush on Téa. Plus, even though they had the same body, it sounded a lot like two timing.

"Joey….it's my body, he can't just disrespect _my _feelings and go and….Well, I want you to stop it, stop being Yami's boyfriend." Yugi didn't look out from behind the curtain so Joey couldn't see his face, but he had heard him sob, his voice breaking, so he knew that he was crying.

"Yugi, I can't, I can't do that. I _love_ him; it's not that easy to just dump someone. I don't want to, I can't." Joey found his own voice shaking now. He hadn't admitted it to himself how much he cared about Yami until right now. He needed him, he made him feel complete.

Yugi was silent from inside the shower, unable to come up with anything to say. "Get out." Joey retreated from the bathroom.

Once back in the room, Joey got dressed, glad that he had packed some t-shirts despite how cold they knew it would be in Brooklyn. He tried, fruitlessly, for a few minutes to put the Puzzle back together, but even though there were only a few pieces out of place, he failed. He could see why it had taken Yugi eight years to solve it. He gathered up the pieces and stowed them in a drawer of the vanity so they wouldn't get mistaken for trash and thrown out. He was sure that Yugi would put it back together after he calmed down. For now he'd try to cheer him up in any way that he could.

Gregory poked his head into the room. "(Sir, would you like some breakfast?)"

"(Sure, but stop calling me Sir, my name is Joey.)" The kid really did need to loosen up. Also he was a little older and taller than Joey, but seemed younger, which added to it seeming so wrong for him to be so formal.

Once Yugi came out of the shower, fully dressed and running a towel through his hair, the three boys headed to go eat; Yugi glaring at Joey's back the entire time. Joey had expected that they would go to the large dining hall that they had gone to the night before, and that they'd have to deal with Pegasus again, but instead Gregory led them to a small kitchen with no Pegasus in sight. Pancakes and all the fixings were set out on the kitchen table, all ready to be eaten. Joey sat down and started eating right away. Yugi sulked for a little longer then sat as far away from Joey as he could at the table, still glaring.

Gregory sat next to Joey, not eating. "(Aren't you gonna eat? It's good,)" Joey asked, shoving another pancake in his mouth.

"(Really, do you like it? I made it myself,)" Gregory said shyly. "(I wanted to thank you for helping my sisters.)"

"(Oh it is good; I haven't had pancakes in forever. Though it's more Yugi that's going to help you,)" Joey motioned to the boy across the table, "(I'm just here for the ride.)" He paused, thinking. "(Speaking of rides, Pegasus did mention that there is horseback riding here, right? Let's go do that, sounds like fun.)" Joey would try anything if he thought that it might help cheer Yugi up, plus he'd never ridden a horse before and wanted to try.

"(Um, yes, Mr. Pegasus has a stable out back. I could take you to the stable master if you wish.)"

After they finished eating, the three boys went out back to the stables. It wasn't a hard building to miss with its bright red roof and white fenced paddocks surrounding it. Joey was mildly surprised to find that the stable master was a woman; a young, rather attractive women. If Joey hadn't already been in a relationship he might have flirted with her. She had platinum blonde hair and when she spoke she had a hint of a British accent. "(Hello, boys, I didn't expect to have visitors today. Not that I mind, not many people come down here to ride, which is a shame. Now, have any of you ridden before?)"

Gregory was about to leave to head back to the house when Joey urged him to stay. "(Come on, it'll be fun, come with us.)"

"(But I don't think I can…Mr. Pegasus may not allow it.)" He was obviously quite cowed by the silver-haired man and didn't feel that he dared do anything against his wishes.

"(Come on, live a little. What's the worst that could happen?)"

"(I could get fired. And I have nowhere else to go.)"

"(Oh come oh, he needs you as a ploy to make his tournament a success, he wouldn't fire you.)" After a little more coaxing, Joey finally convinced him to come with them.

None of the boys had ridden before so the woman picked gentle horses for them to ride. Well, she did for Gregory anyway. She gave him an old dapple grey gelding that was kind of slow, but steady and reliable. She gave Yugi a small bay pony because she didn't think he was big enough to handle a horse. She was going to give Joey a gentle horse as well, but he had other ideas. Joey had spotted a jet black horse off by itself in the corner of the stable and he was intrigued by it.

"(Wow, I've never seen a horse with blue eyes before.)" He had thought that all horses had brown eyes. But here this one was, with icy, pale blue eyes.

"(This is Night Flower. She's what is called wall eyed, which is just what blue-eyed horses are called. She's been temperamental of late so we are keeping her by herself.)"

"(I want to ride her,)" Joey said, in a bit of a trance as he stared into the mare's piercing eyes.

"(But she will try to buck you off.)"

Joey wasn't listening and was looking for a saddle to put on the black horse. The stable master sighed. If the boy wanted to learn the hard way…she got a saddle, a Western saddle because they were easier for beginners to use, and saddled the mare.

Joey happily mounted the mare and everything went smoothly for the first part of their trail ride. Yugi's pony and Gregory's horse gave them no problems but Night Flower seemed a bit on edge. It was proved right that she did buck when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye that scared her and she ran hell bent for leather in a random direction. Joey tried his best to stop her but she wouldn't even slow. Finally, she stumbled and bucked her hapless rider off.

Joey landed with a sickening thud, his arm feeling like it was on fire after breaking his fall. He moaned, rolling over onto his back. He was in so much pain he felt that he couldn't move, and he didn't for a long time. He must have blacked out because the next thing he knew he was looking into Yugi's worried face.

"Joey, can you hear me? Are you alive?!" Yugi's voice was frantic as he tried to tell if Joey's still form was still in the land of the living. He was so worried that he didn't see Joey's eyelids flitter open.

"Yugi…" Joey muttered softly.

"You're alive?! Thank goodness!" Yugi beamed happily, wiping a tear that had formed from the corner of his eye.

Joey moaned, a stabbing pain shooting through his left arm. "You're not still mad at me? You don't hate me?" He said this through clenched teeth.

"No, Joey, I'm not still mad at you, and I don't hate you, you're my best friend. But, please, ask my permission before you…do…anything with Yami again, okay? It's still my body…" The last part was said quietly.

"It's a deal," Joey tried to give Yugi a fist bump but ended up moving his arm too much and screaming. "Ahh, oh my god…" Joey's eyes were almost glazed with pain.

"What happened?" Yugi asked worriedly, looking for the source of the boy's agony.

"I fell off my horse. I think my arm may be broken…"

Yugi helped Joey back to the stables where the stable master and Gregory were worried sick and about to mount a search party to search for the two lost Japanese boys. While Joey was in the infirmary, Yugi sat down and reassembled the Millennium Puzzle.

When Joey was finally released by the doctors he went back to his and Yugi/Yami's room. His arm wasn't actually broken, just badly sprained and bruised. But it had to be in a cast and he couldn't use it. Even though he was right handed Joey was finding it a challenge to do a lot of tasks with the use of only one arm.

Once inside the room he saw that Yugi was sitting cross-legged on their bed, the Puzzle around his neck and both hands clasping either side of the gold object, talking to Yami mentally. Joey sat down on the desk chair and waited quietly for them to finish.

When his hands finally moved from the Puzzle Yami was in control of Yugi's body. He blinked slowly, looking around the room. He spotted Joey in the chair and started slightly, not expecting to see him there.

"I take it he made up with you?" Joey asked, standing and walking over to stand by the bed.

"Yes, he is still a little upset with us, but he will be fine." Yami sighed, running a hand through his tri-colored hair. "Still, I should not have acted as impulsively as I did, Joey. I had no right to use Yugi's body like that without his permission."

Joey was quiet, not quite sure what to say. It was partially true, and yet partially not. "It is true that Yugi has rights to his own body, of course. But you should also have a say in the matter, you _share _a body and both have to give and take a little."

Yami nodded, standing up, not being able to hide a small wince. "What's wrong?" Joey asked, concerned. He had been given so many painkillers by the doctors that he didn't feel any pain at all from his injury.

Yami blushed slightly, looking away. Then it hit Joey what was wrong. "You're still hurting from what Keith did to you, aren't you?" Joey stepped forward, wrapping him in an awkward, one-armed, hug.

Yami didn't need to reply, he just silently buried his face in Joey's warm chest. It felt so good to drop down all of his shields and just surrender himself to Joey. He wrapped his arms around the taller boy, sealing their embrace.

Joey reached down and gently tugged Yami's chin up, leaning down far enough that they were eye to eye. He gave the pharaoh a kiss and then pulled back, not sure if he wanted the attention. Yami tugged him back down and gave him a kiss in return, arms still wrapped tightly around his lover.

Anything further was interrupted by a small noise at the door. They both looked up to see Gregory standing in the door, staring wide-eyed at them, so red from blushing he looked fit to faint. "(Um, um, uh, I mean. Uh…)" He was so embarrassed at walking in on them that he couldn't speak.

"(Spit it out, man.)" Joey wasn't sure if he should be irritated or amused at the boy, but he didn't step back from Yami.

"(Mr. Pegasus would like to invite you to the New Year's Eve party tonight.)" Gregory fidgeted nervously with his shirt sleeve, treating it like the most important thing in the world.

"It's New Year's Eve already tonight?" Joey thought out loud to himself.

"(When does it start? I am hungry….)"

"(Right now, we need to hurry if we don't want to be late…)" Gregory motioned for them to leave out the door.

Yami was a little bit irritated at being unable to spend more alone time with Joey, but he had to admit that he was hungry as well and followed the two boys willingly after Joey told him what was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

They were the youngest ones at the party and felt quiet left out. Also Yami didn't understand English so only Joey knew what they were saying. Neither boy had really come to the party with the idea of socializing though; they both just wanted to eat. They got food from the long table set up in the middle of the room and then went and sat by themselves at a corner table.

"So it's New Years, Pegasus said he'd let us go after you did that duel he wanted you to do. So we should be able to go home soon," Joey said between mouthfuls.

Yami muttered something in reply but wasn't really listening. He was feeling suddenly very depressed. He just had a bad feeling about this whole duel. He didn't even know who he was dueling, plus flashbacks of what had happened at Christmas kept coming back to haunt him.

"You okay, man? You look a little pale." Joey reached out his good hand to touch the smaller boy's forehead but Yami moved back before he made contact.

"I am fine…" Yami said quietly and unconvincingly.

"You don't look fine. If you wanna talk about it, I'm here." Yami didn't get depressed very often and usually extruded an atmosphere of confidence. Now he was quiet and withdrawn. It didn't take rocket science for Joey to figure out that it was probably Yami being raped on Christmas that was still bothering him. "If I ever see Keith again I'm going to kill that bastard." Joey glared at the wall behind Yami, his hand in a fist.

"What good would that do? Then you would get arrested and I would not get to be with you…" His voice was so quiet that Joey had to strain his ears to hear him.

"You want to go back to our room?" Being at this noisy party wasn't helping at all.

His plans were interrupted by Pegasus strolling up to their table. "Having fun, boys?"

"Not really," Joey glared at the American.

"Oh come now, it's New Year's Eve, live a little!" He spread his arms out wide.

"How long are you goings to make us stay here, anyway?" Joey asked. He'd been wondering this for a while now.

"I already have your tickets for your flight back to Japan ready. The duel is on the 2nd. It would have been the 1st, but that would be bad business because everyone would have a hangover and be tired from staying up late tonight. So be ready for that duel Yugi boy." He turned to leave.

"Who am I dueling?" Yami asked, finally raising his voice.

"My, my, impatient aren't we, Yugi boy. That's a surprise; neither of you gets to know who they are dueling until you are facing each other. No need to give either of you an unfair advantage." And with that he left their table to go chat with his guests.

"Aww, it'll be okay, Yami. I know you can beat whoever he decides to throw at you." Could that possibly be what was bothering Yami?

"It is not that, Joey. It is just…I have a suspicion about who my opponent will be and I would rather not have to face him." Yami finished the last of his food, not explaining himself further, and stood. "I see no point in staying here, do you?"

They went back to their room. Joey didn't know what to do now so he stood, kind of awkwardly, in the middle of the room. He felt even more awkward when Yami started pulling his belts off, letting them fall to the floor. Yami retrieved his deck from its holder and faced Joey. "We have an hour before midnight. Let us duel."

"But wouldn't dueling me before your big duel not be challenging enough?" Joey had to admit that Yami was a better duelist than he. He didn't like to, but it was true.

"I do not care." Yami sat cross-legged on the floor, setting his cards up. "How about we have a bet? The loser has to do whatever the winner wants him to do."

"I'm not gonna have to wear a dog costume, am I?" That would just be too embarrassing.

"Do not automatically assume that you will lose, Joey."

Despite saying that, Yami did win the duel. It was a close call though. Yami had only 100 Life Points left and just won by the skin of his teeth. Joey was dueling very well that night and Yami wasn't on his top game, but still he managed to clear Joey's field of monsters and useful spells and traps and hit him with a direct attack to his Life Points with the Dark Magician.

"Aww man, and I thought I'd win that duel!" Joey ran his hands through his blonde hair, frustrated. He sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

Yami was silent for a moment. "Kiss me."

Joey stared at him for a moment. "Really? That's all you wanted? You could have just asked. Didn't have to make a bet about it." Yami glared at him, tapping his foot. "Geeze, gotta work on that patience." Joey scooted across the now card-free floor, at this level it was much easier for them to reach each other's height.

Joey decided to tease him and waited awhile before actually kissing him. Yami let out a frustrated growl and yanked on the blonde's shirt, bringing him down on top of him. "You really are impatient." Joey smirked, finally bringing his lips to meet Yami's.

They shared a long, passionate kiss until Joey finally pulled back. "If we go any further Yugi will kill us."

Yami groaned, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide the bulge in his pants. "Really? Do we have to?"

Joey blushed, seeing Yami's discomfort. "Well…I just we could kiss more." Unexpectedly he picked Yami up and laid him down on their bed, crawling on top of him and straddling his small form.

"This is not helping…" Yami complained, but was silenced by Joey kissing him again.

Neither boy was paying attention to the clock and missed midnight passing and the New Year beginning. They were too lost in each other to pay attention to anything and only stopped when Joey found himself reaching under Yami's shirt to run his hands over his skin.

"Arggh," Joey complained, he was turned on now too. He knew he shouldn't, but he kissed Yami again, pulling his warm body to press against his own. He felt small hands dig into his back and Yami's body jerked a little. Was he holding him too tightly? He opened his eyes to see that Yugi had taken his body back and was staring at him wide-eyed with a crimson face.

Joey quickly pulled back, dropping Yugi on the bed. "Sorry…" He blushed to match Yugi.

"Well, I didn't know what was going on out here…" Yugi trailed off, both of them not meeting the other's eyes.

Joey finally got up the courage to ask. "So, um, can we, uh, you know?"

"Have sex with Yami?" Yugi looked away.

"Yeah, that." This was the most awkward conversation ever.

"Well seeing as you already got me hard…and you did ask this time…yes." He went back inside the Puzzle, leaving his body limp and soulless for a short time while he made mental contact with Yami. Yami silently thanked him and went back outside.

"It always scares me when yous do that, leave your body empty." Joey said. He had picked Yami up after he went limp and was holding him to his chest.

"I am just surprised he said yes." Yami looked deviously at the blonde, smirking.


End file.
